Air gun trigger and safety device



Sept. 2, 1969 Filed April 4, 1966 C. H. FISHER AIR GUN'TRIGGER AND SAFETY DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOQ C. H. FBHER BY AM, was

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United States Patent 3,464,399 AIR GUN TRIGGER AND SAFETY DEVICE Colin Hordley Fisher, Motherwell, Scotland, assignor to Millard Brothers Limited, London, England, a British company Filed Apr. 4, 1966, Ser. No. 539,825 Claims priority, application Great Britain, July 12, 1965, 29,372/ 65 Int. Cl. F41c 19/06, 17/02 US. Cl. 124-37 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An air gun trigger action in which the trigger acts on a release sear through a lost-motion arrangement, and a safety catch immobilizes the trigger while still allowing cocking movement of the sear.

This invention relates to air gun trigger actions.

According to the present invention an air gun trigger action includes a piston-engaging sear, a trigger operatively associated with the sear by means of a lost motion connection permitting cocking of the gun without movement of the trigger, and a safety stop movable into a position in which it prevents movement of the trigger.

In a preferred embodiment the safety stop comprises a circular cam arranged with its axis perpendicular to the plane in which the trigger moves and disposed to intercept a part of the trigger on movement thereof unless a cut-out region of the cam is aligned with that part of the trigger.

The lost motion connection is conveniently constituted by a pin engaging in an oversize hole.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

FIGURE 1 is a sectional drawing of the mechanism, showing the safety catch and trigger mechanism with the gun not cocked,

FIGURE 2 is a similar drawing showing the gun cocked with the safety catch at the safe position,

FIGURE 3 shows the same gun with the safety catch at the fire position, and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic transverse cross-section on the line IV--IV of FIGURE 3.

Referring to FIGURE 1, a pivotally mounted sear 1 is arranged to engage a recess 2 in the piston rod of an air gun. The trigger 3 of the gun is pivoted on a pin 4, and a spring 5 adjustable by means of screw 6 exerts pressure on the sear, which will keep it in the cocked position in engagement with the recess 2. The sear is actuated by a pin 7 mounted in the sear to project laterally on either side thereof through bores 8 in the trigger assembly. The nose of the sear is tapered as shown at 9 such that it is pushed downwards by the piston rod in the cocking process and allows the piston rod to pass the edge of the scar and so cock the gun. A pin 10 or other device passes through the trigger assembly which can be restrained or allowed to move according to the position of a cylindrical safety catch cam 11 disposed with its axis parallel to the trigger pivot. This safety catch cam is positively operated by a safety catch lever 12 moving through a predetermined are. The safety catch cam 11 is extended at 13 to limit its motion inside the safety catch housing 14. A stationary indexing plate 15 which carries a small location projection 16 is pressed against the cam by a spring 17. Two recesses 18 in the safety catch cam 11 provide locations for the projection 16 and these hold the safety catch cam in the fire and safe position respectively.

The cylindrical edge of the safety catch cam 11 presses against the pin 10 preventing any movement of the trigger 3 when the safety catch is in safe position. In the firing position a recess 19 on the cam plate 11 is aligned with the pin 10, thus permitting the trigger to be pulled back to fire the gun.

A description of the procedure when the gun is cocked with the cam in the safe position is as follows:

In the process of cocking, either with an underlever or with breaking of the barrel, the piston rod 2 is pushed backwards, compressing the main spring. The end of the piston rod contacts the sloping face 9 of the sear 1 and pushes it downwards against the pressure of the spring 5. The diameter of the holes 8 in the trigger assembly 3 is such that the pin 7 mounted on the sear 1 can move downwards and allow the operational edge 20 of the piston rod to engage in the operational edge 21 of the sear without any movement of the trigger 3 which is, of course, restricted by the contact between the pin 10 and the cylindrical edge of the safety catch cam 11. This cocking action, is therefore completely independent of the movement of the trigger and the trigger itself cannot be accidentally pulled. The pressure on the sear by the spring 5 can, if necessary, be adjusted by the screw 6. The gun is now fully cocked but can only be tired after the safety catch cam 11 has been rotated by means of the safety catch lever 12 to the fire position. When this has been done the recess in the cam plate 19 is aligned with the pin 10. To fire the gun the trigger is then pulled backwards, the pin 10 entering into the recess 19 after a small preliminary movement against the restraining pressure of the spring 22. After this short preliminary movement the upper part of the wall of the bore 8 makes contact with the sear pin 7 and further movement of the trigger results in the sear 1 being moved in a downward direction to release the piston rod 2 and fire the gun.

I claim:

1. An air gun trigger action comprising in combination:

(a) a hollow housing,

(b) a piston rod engaging sear mounted on a trigger connecting pin within said housing, said sear being biased at an end remote from the trigger connecting (0) a trigger mounted on a pivot within said housing,

((1) a lost-motion connecting device including said trigger connecting pin linking said trigger to said sear and permitting limited movement of said sear relative to said trigger into a piston rod engaging position, and

(e) a safety stop movably mounted within said housing for movement between a first position wherein it abuts the trigger and thereby prevents pivoting movement of said trigger about said pivot but, by virtue of said lost-motion connecting device, does not prevent said limited movement of said sear, and a second position wherein it is disengaged from said trigger and thus permits pivoting movement of said trigger about said pivot and, through said lost motion connecting device, said trigger moving said sear to a piston rod releasing position.

2. An air gun trigger action as set forth in claim 1 .wherein said safety stop consists of a segment of a periphery of a circular cam the latter being rotatable about its axis relative to said housing, said segment in said first position lying in rotation-preventing relation to said trigger and in said second position being withdrawn from said rotation-preventing relation.

3. An air gun as set forth in claim 1 in which said lostrnotion connecting device consists of a lateral peg on one of the linked components and an aperture, of larger size than the thickness of said peg, defined on the other of the linked components by an inner peripheral wall form- 3,464,399 3 4 ing an abutment surface for said peg for co-operation (e) a safety trigger stop consisting of a segment of the therewith. periphery of a circular cam rotatably mounted on 4. An air gun trigger action comprising in combination: an axis transverse of said housing, said segment when (a) ahollow housing, in a first position preventing pivotal movement of (b) a piston rod engaging sear mounted on a trigger 5 the trigger about said second pivot and when in a connecting lateral peg within said housing, second position, permitting such pivotal movement (c) a trigger mounted on a second pivot within said of the trigger.

housing,

(d) a lost-motion connecting device, which connects the trigger and the piston engaging sear, consisting 10 of said lateral peg on said sear and an aperture, of larger size than the thickness of said peg, on said 2856912 10/1958 Enckson 124m37 XR i for petmitfiflg limited Y of Said F RICHARD c. PINKHAM, Primary Examiner relat1ve to sa1d trigger into a piston rod engaglng position, said aperture, defined by an inner peripheral 15 W- BROWNE, Assistant Examiner wall in the adjacent surface of the trigger forming an abutment surface for said peg for co-operation therewith whereby said trigger may move said sear 124-40 to a piston rod releasing position, and

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS US. Cl. X.R. 

